DORSET WOMAN WINS £2,500 PAYOUT AFTER INCOMPETENT DENTAL TREATMENT

A woman from Verwood, near Bournemouth, has been awarded £2,500 in compensation after her dentist of 20 years left her in severe pain and in need of corrective treatment.

Maureen Hanney, 69, sued Dr Thomasson from Verwood Dental Care after he carried out no less than three botched root canal treatments on two teeth, which now need to be redone at her expense.

It is the second time in less than a year that Maureen has had to take action against a dentist at the same dental surgery. She has previously successfully sued a Dr Chiriac after he failed to treat an infection in a tooth before placing a crown on it and was awarded £5,500 in May last year.

Maureen said: “The latest issue with Dr Thomasson has actually been rumbling on for over 8 years, with the first failed root treatment in 2005” she explained. “It was just unfortunate that I had a further bad experience in between with Dr Chiriac at the same surgery. It’s hard to believe.”

Talking about the most recent case, Maureen said that she first went to see Dr Thomasson back in 2000 with concerns after she lost a filling and noticed that she had a chip in the same tooth.

“He reassured me everything was fine and prescribed no treatment,” she said.

Later that same year Maureen developed a fracture in another tooth so she returned to see Dr Thomasson.

She said: “He told me that my tooth had a fracture, so over the next three months he prepared my tooth and a new crown was placed.“

Maureen returned to Dr Thomasson in February 2005 when she was in agony with toothache.

Maureen said: “The tooth that I had the initial complications with felt very tender and I was in constant pain, so I made another appointment with Dr Thomasson. He told me I needed a root filling.”

In August 2006 Maureen went back in to see Dr Thomasson with severe pain in the crowned tooth. He prescribed antibiotics and carried out another root canal treatment.

She said: “I had problems with my teeth over the next two years, including further antibiotics and more root canal treatments, and eventually I’d had enough.”

Tim explained: “Maureen’s treatment at the hands of Dr Thomasson was well below the standards expected of him. If he had carried out the treatment properly in the first place, she wouldn’t have suffered pain or needed to undergo the same treatment again.”

Maureen said: “What Dr Thomasson did was not right. Going back for the same problem time and time again was very disheartening. I’m glad my case has been settled and now I can begin to move on.”